Hey friend,

How’s it going? 🌻

Are you transitioning to a new content marketing role in 2025?

Let me tell you one thing: the role of a content marketer is significantly different in a product startup and in an agency. I have been on both sides, and I will do my best to write an honest reflection of both setups.

The goal is to help you choose where you want to see yourself next and what to expect from the role.

Let's go!

But before that....

What to expect from the content marketing role: An agency vs. a product startup

🏢 In an Agency

In an agency setup, you work with multiple clients — SaaS, AI, martech, fintech — all at once. You learn about different products and business models every day.

Your role as a content marketer sits within a structured process:

• The SEO team creates a strategy and topic clusters.
• You own the briefing, editing, and quality control for content pieces.
• You collaborate with freelancers, clients, and subject matter experts.

This largely means:

• You’ll sharpen your attention to detail fast.
• You’ll also learn to manage timelines, track dependencies, and document everything using tools like Notion, ClickUp, or Asana.

But the structure that gives you depth also limits your range.
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Since each channel (SEO, outreach, distribution) has its own owner, you might not see how content impacts traffic, conversions, or ROI.

You become a specialist, not necessarily a strategist.

🚀 In a Product-First Startup

Now flip that completely.

In a fast-paced product startup, you’re not one part of a bigger process — you are the process.

Most content teams are 1–3 people. Everyone does everything.

You’ll plan strategy, write, distribute, experiment, and analyze — all in one cycle.

You’ll learn:

• How to tie content to revenue metrics (pipeline, demos, conversions).
• How to coordinate across product, design, and sales.
• How to communicate numbers and rationale to founders for every experiment.

That autonomy accelerates growth — but it also comes with accountability.

When a strategy flops or a campaign fails, there’s no “team” to absorb it. It’s your call, your experiment, your lesson.

You’ll also need to learn how to communicate in a bulletproof way —
how to explain your reasoning, justify creative decisions, and get buy-in from founders or leadership teams.

Another nuance: startups make you an industry insider very quickly.
If you spend 2–3 years in HR tech, for example, you’ll deeply understand the buying cycle — how HR teams evaluate tools, how long decision-making takes, what drives purchase triggers.

But that also means you can become industry-dependent.
Switching to a completely different space (say, martech or fintech) will require a fresh learning curve.

So while agencies make you multi-industry versatile, startups make you domain-deep.

Which skills to sharpen up in both setups: Agency vs. product startup

🏢 In an Agency

• Research and content depth → You’ll learn to research across industries, interview SMEs, and turn insights into structured briefs.
• Editorial precision → You’ll get better at reviewing, editing, and maintaining consistency across different tones and styles.
• Project management → Managing multiple clients teaches you to prioritize, document, and use tools like Notion or ClickUp efficiently.
• Process thinking → You’ll build playbooks, checklists, and templates to make execution faster and more repeatable.
• Collaboration → You’ll learn to work with SEO, design, and strategy teams — understanding how each part contributes to content performance.

🚀 In a Product-First Startup

• Ownership mindset → You’re responsible for everything — from planning to performance. You’ll learn to connect content directly with results.
• Analytical thinking → You’ll understand what metrics matter — demo requests, pipeline impact, conversion rates — and how content moves those numbers.
• Cross-functional learning → You’ll pick up skills from adjacent channels — product marketing, SEO, demand gen, even event and email marketing.
• Strategic communication → You’ll learn to make your case to founders and leadership — explain why an experiment matters, and back it with data.
• Experimentation and adaptability → You’ll constantly test, measure, and iterate to see what works for your audience.

Each setup strengthens different muscles.

The trick is to recognize which one aligns with where you are in your learning curve.

How to excel in both setups: Agency vs. product startup

🏢 In an Agency:

• Document everything. Turn every project into a repeatable playbook.
• Don’t just execute briefs — ask why a piece exists, what problem it solves.
• Build relationships with your SEO and strategy teams; that’s how you’ll learn beyond your silo.

🚀 In a Product Startup:

• Learn to communicate your numbers. Every strategy needs a visible business impact.
• Treat every failure as a data point — test, adapt, and document what worked.
• Don’t lose range: stay curious about other industries and content functions.

Both paths teach you how to think like a marketer — one from a process lens, the other from an ownership lens.

💭 Final Thought

• If you’re early in your career, an agency will give you the structure and frameworks you need.
• If you’re ready to own outcomes, a startup will teach you speed, adaptability, and business thinking.

Both are valuable chapters.
You need to decide what you want to learn next — depth or direction.

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Onwards and upwards,

Sreyashi

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